Guilded Cages
by J. Valentine0
Summary: Nothing could save her now.


**Gilded Cage**

_Most of these one shots will be set between 'Fathoming You' and 'Requiem of Paradise'. Some sad, some sweet, some just downright strange. Enjoy!_

She hung in the sky, a black star against the skyline's white. New York City never slept, a glittering stone in the midst of midnight. An island of lights where millions of minds melted into a display of self-expression, envied by all. Fortunes were sought here, in every form imaginable. The underbelly of it all sought such with pistols brandished. Some unleashed their fury for other reasons. One being the dark star suspended far above it all.

Jill had never been afraid of heights, and P30 only made the task of hanging by a nylon cord hundreds of feet in the air as meaningless as flushing a toilet. Pale blues were set on the network of ant sized cars that scooted along the road far below her. Legs laced about the black rope, a single pistol dangled from her left hand. A machete hung from its sheathing at her hip. A killing machine lying in the grass waiting for its prey. This would be too easy.

His apartment was in this building, bay window viewing the glory of New York far below on the first floor. She knew because she tracked him down over the past several months.

All a lie.

A fraud.

He hadn't died.

The thought itself caused a grin to worm over her soft pale lips. Reunion to be was mere minutes away now as her irises darted to a sleek town car pulling up to the building. There was no hesitation as she reached up to the clasp that held her like an hour glass bellied arachnid in the dark sky. The car came to a stop. Jill fell from Heaven.

Fallen angels never were merciful creatures.

As the driver clicked off the headlights, the unthinkable happened. Someone came crashing down right on the hood of the Mercedes. Windshield splintering into a million shards desperate to stay as one, his view was blocked from seeing a pistol raised and aimed at where he sat. The splatter of brain, bone and blood caused someone in the back of the car to exert a banshee's scream.

"Beautiful." Pale eyes were aflame in mania.

Left aft door swinging open, she viewed the horrified and blood spattered face of her true target. A lovely girl, no older than twenty, wrapped in the finest white fur stumbled out into the night. Her shocked breath steamed in the cold air. Tendrils of what had been carefully placed curls now hung in a mess that Jill could only find to be hysterical. She laughed as the girl found herself unable to drag her stare from the dead driver and the woman bathed in violet and black.

The girl did wrong, she tried to run. Gucci didn't make sprinting heels.

**BLAM!**

Left calf took the bullet. Expensive silk nylon was shredded just as severely as the meat of the appendage. On the ground, wailing in pain, the young woman struggled further to escape.

**BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!**

"Consider this free cosmetic surgery." Valentine hissed as she proceeded to unload her clip on the unarmed female.

More crying, more screaming, more struggling only led to more bleeding and suffering. Soon Jill's boots were clicking against the cold pavement. People watching the scene fled or stood in shock. Police were at least fifteen minutes away.

"I only need seven minutes to make you pay for trying to take my place." Machete drawn, Valentine reached out for the girl's hair. A helpless slap delivered by the victim and Jill took that hand for a trophy. The glittering five caret wedding ring glittered in the dim light of the nearest street light as the hand flopped dead to the ground.

The symphony of screaming had caused him to come out at long last. The offering to her god finally reaching his ears. Turning to face him, Jill's blood flecked features beamed a devious grin. She had become his plague doctor at long last, delivering pestilence and death onto those who wished to use him. Twisting her hand deeper into the curls of the poor girl, she held her prey tight.

Why was he screaming? Was he not pleased by her?

"She would have used you! Just like Excella did… I won't let that happen again."

It was then that he approached. Slow motions, hands diving into dirty blonde hair, the Arian man stopped about eight feet away. Tears in his eyes, the palms finally dropped.

That was when she realized it.

'_I'm not alive anymore…'_

Releasing her grasp from the girl, Jill stepped closer to the man. His face was slimmer, brown eyes barely visible in the darkness between the casting of street lights glare. Foot shorter than her Apollo.

'_What have I done?'_

It all made sense now. She was losing her grasp on reality. The P30 had been administered in careful doses. He never gave her more than a vial in a week's time.

Now, she was taking a vial daily. Side effects were violent at their tamest.

The girl made one last attempt to fight back, her remaining hand reaching out and grasping onto Jill's ankle.

'_You have to run.' _His voice snaked its way into her brain.

"Witnesses." She choked, machete flicked into a more stable grasp.

'_You know how I feel about those.'_

In one arching motion, the edge of the blade slashed the girl's head clean off. More dead meat and more blood. Eyes flicked up, she viewed his attempt to flee. Pistol raised, she fired.

"I thought it was you." She hissed through grit teeth. No tears for now. She would punish herself later.

The man dropped like a sack of bricks. Clean shot to the head and ended his suffering.

'_I know you did…'_

"Why didn't you stop me?!" She roared, blade and pistol sheathed as the woman fled the scene. One forward spring over the hood of the car and she scurried towards the alley nearby.

'_Stop you?'_

Hands slamming into the brick siding of one of the buildings making up the alley, she stopped for a brief moment. "Stopped me from killing that woman."

'_I stole your thunder with Excella… thought it might ease the pain.'_

"You're fucking sick." She was on the move again. Police sirens screamed against the night as she retrieved her cloak and beloved modern plague doctor's mask.

'_So are you. Tell me, how is overdosing on P30 going?'_

"Makes me hate living less…"

'_Good. We have real work to do now.'_

Mask donned, her hurried pace slowed to a casual stroll. "I'm all ears…"


End file.
